It’s not easy to hide away in the middle of LA. But the artists who make it to Glenwood

Place Studios will tell you that it is possible. These famed studios manage to feel concealed from the public eye in Burbank, allowing platinum clientele to create within an inspiring oasis.

Criterion Acoustics (CA) was called on to expand on Glenwood Place’s offerings, by turning its existing Studio D into two new studios, Glenwood Gold and Glenwood Silver, with a lounge and private outdoor patio areas. Led by CA President Dave Kotch, his team provided architectural design, studio design, interior design and landscape design for the studios. In addition, CA fabricated all custom acoustic diffusers and loudspeakers for both spaces.

“Our goal at Glenwood is to provide very creative surroundings for the artists—visually inspiring, comfortable and inviting,” says Kit Rebhun, Director, Studio Operations for Glenwood Place. “We accomplish this by taking every element into consideration from the choice of colors, lighting, furnishings, and garden courtyards. Our studios strive to be one step ahead both acoustically and technologically.” 

“Glenwood Place has a rich history, and they wanted a forward-looking addition with these new rooms,” Kotch says. “They needed to feel refreshing – not like a studio, more like a living room that’s a great place to make music. The Gold and Silver studios also needed to be fully networked, so two teams could collaborate if desired. This being LA, a beautiful outdoor lounge space was also a must.”  

CA oversaw a design that incorporated spacious control rooms with a warm, inviting feel. Collaborating with Rebhun on the interior design, CA paired neutral colors and warm lighting with wainscoting, brick, and exposed beams, as well as taking advantage of a skylight in one studio for additional ambiance. Neve Custom Series 75 consoles are paired with custom self-powered Augspurger monitors designed specifically for Glenwood Place, providing punchy and robust critical listening in a compact speaker footprint.

Each studio has an adjacent live space that extends the capabilities. One of the live rooms is midsize to easily accommodate a piano or drum kit, while the other functions as a vocal iso booth.  

“Obviously the rooms have to sound fantastic and translate well, and this was achieved by Criterion Acoustics,” notes Rebhun. “The sense of ease and the flow came together with a sensitivity to aesthetics, making every space appealing and refreshing. Visually, technically and acoustically it all combined perfectly for a timeless, limitless feel.

“Criterion Acoustics were extremely open to the new ideas and materials we wanted to use,” Rebhun continues. “We had a very clear idea about these rooms visually, and they incorporated the acoustics that worked perfectly.”  

Jacob Dennis, Chief Engineer for Glenwood Place, adds, “In my experience being in the studio, and particularly for writing sessions, I feel the environment plays a major role in putting people in a creative mindset. Additionally, as an engineer I need the room to be functional and also translate. Glenwood Gold and Silver do a fantastic job of marrying those two worlds.”

With its new spaces, Glenwood Place Studios sets the pace for music production. “The traditional studio model is changing,” observes Dave Kotch. “We’re seeing it move from a few studios with sizable live rooms to multiple studios with larger control rooms, which makes it even more inviting for artists to hang out and make music together. With its dual directives of pristine acoustics and a warm look and feel, Glenwood Place pushed Criterion Acoustics to innovate with our materials and design choices. The result is a new creative haven for LA’s top artists and emerging talent.”

Studio Design Team: David Kotch & Marc Picciotto – Criterion Acoustics

Interior Design: Kit Rebhun

Contractor: Brad Keeler – Progressive Designs

Studio Integration: Bruce Millet

Technical Specifications: 

Studio Gold

Console: Custom Series 75 (8 Channel) 

Main Monitors: Dual 10” Custom Augspurger

Near Field Monitors: Focal Trio6 be

Room Dimensions: Control Room = 21’ 6” X 11’ 5”  

Vocal/Overdub Booth = 5.5w X 13l X 8.5h

Outboard Gear: 

Mic Pres — Chandler TG2 (2), Neve 1073 (2)

Dynamics — Smart Research CL1A (1), SSL 611DYN (2), Tube-Tech CL1B(1), Teletronix LA-2A (1)

Equalization — Pultec EQP-1A3 (1), SSL 611EQ (2)

Other — A Designs REDDI V2 Dual Mono Tube Direct Box (1); Heritage Audio BT 500 (1)

Studio Silver

Console: Custom Series 75 (8 Channel) 

Main Monitors: Dual 10” Custom Augspurger

Near Field Monitors: Focal Trio6 be

Room Dimensions: Control Room = 19’ 8” X 13’ 11”  

Vocal/Overdub Booth = 10’ 4” X 5’ 2”

Outboard Gear: 

Mic Pres — Chandler TG2 (2), Neve 1073 (2)

Dynamics — Smart Research CL1A (1), SSL 611DYN (2), Tube-Tech CL1B(1), Teletronix LA-2A (1)

Equalization — Pultec EQP-1A3 (1), SSL 611EQ (2)

Other — A Designs REDDI V2 Dual Mono Tube Direct Box (1); Heritage Audio BT 500 (1)